Another turgid, mediocre showing

Sparse home crowd at a cold crisp Gayfield where the pitch was drier than Saturday but cutting up. Starting places for Reid and Sergio with Munro starting for Watson at the back

We started brightly, almost confidently but Shire came more into the game. A Hester deflection after 15 minutes would have made the difference but, the story for the rest of the night, it flashed wide. Late into the half, Lowden was fed in and passed the ball past keeper but also post. At the other end, Shire posed only an occasional threat.

Second half was dominated by Arbroath nut the Shire defence stood firm. We worked hard to create openings and, without consistently troubling them got closer as the half wore on. Ramsay, Stewart and Skelly replaced Rutherford, Sergio and Reid.

Ramsay, Skelly then finally Bobby Linn came close - but none of them was on target even when that seemed easier.

Overall, we were too often brushed aside to make an impact. We seem far too lightweight. the passing was ponderous and often inaccurate. Too many poor first touches - at times you felt you were watching amateurs. Hester showed some nice touches but needs help up top, and Munro and Little dealt with everything capably though their distribution was poor. Whatley was improved from recent performances.

An utterly frustrating evening. And whether fans and pitch can withstand yet another abysmal 90 minutes on Saturday is open to serious question